Graceless
by ShadowsOfADarkenedPast
Summary: There had never been a time in her life where things had been more of a mess. Not even her parents deaths could compare to this. They'd lied to her. Lightning had lied to her. She didn't even know what she was- Let alone what she was meant for. It had to be wrong, whatever this prophecy business was, she couldn't save herself, let alone the whole world. {Snow x Serah AU}
1. Chapter 1

A/N- So a good friend of mine has recently gotten me hella addicted Final Fantasy XIII, and it's characters. Namely the ship Snow x Serah. And while I myself have not actually played any of the games (alas, I am strongly lacking in an xbox or other supporting system right now.), I have in fact done a little bit of research into my adorable children and would like to share with the world this beautiful work of AU-ness. I hope you enjoy. (and I will be working to avoid any authors notes beyond this one in the future.

Chapter One: And So It Begins

Serah Farron had always been a particularly studious girl. Her attention hadn't strayed far from studies and when it did, it didn't go far beyond the safety of what was deemed normal for her life. What exactly classified as normal, you might be asking yourself. Well, that was an easy answer. Normal was dinner with Lightning every night when she came home from work after a long shift. Normal was homework done before she thought about anything else, usually it was done before Lightning got home from work, and checked, and double checked. Normal, for Serah, was spending her nights alone pretending the world beyond the fragile life she tended to lead didn't exist.

After all, she lived in a world where it seemed if one thing was out of place within a routine everything would come tumbling apart. It'd been that way for a while. Since she was seven to be exact. And she was seventeen now.

High school.

It was a nightmare, even for seasoned veterens of the world. If you didn't fit in, normally you were bullied, and tormented and hated on until everything seemed like it didn't matter anymore. For Serah though, she just ignored it. It was another constant. Another thing that fit into her routine just as easily as everything else.

And that was likely why the pinkette was ignoring those who were attempting to no avail to press her buttons.

"Come on, Serah. We know you have the answers. Give them to us."The boy who spoke was a tall male, captain of one of the schools many sports teams, his girlfriend, who joined him in his harassment was as well.

"I wouldn't have to give you the answers if you'd just pay attention in class, Jamie."Serah kept her tone as level, and as even as possible. Some would even dare to say she added a little twinge of her normal happy sounding tone to the words.

Of course, that would've been if anybody within the school had actually known what the sound of her voice was when she wasn't fending off her bullies, or answering a question in the classroom. That was another thing about Serah, she didn't really talk much. She didn't have friends, either. She'd never been very good at the friend vibe, and to be fair, she didn't feel like she needed them. She had a plan set in motion, a plan that required most of her focus and didn't leave time for a social life. A fact she was more than okay with.

She felt the books falling from her grasp as she toyed with her locker trying to get it to spring open, and Bianca, did nothing to stop them, in fact, Serah didn't seem shocked when the girl reached forward and knocked the books down completely. "Oops. Sorry my hand slipped."

If it hadn't been for Serah's perfect attendance record and lack of trouble, she may have caught herself wishing that she could hit the girl, but she didn't. She knew better. She knew the consequences if she took that leap and they would not bode well for any of her future plans. She opened the blue locker, finally and squatted to collect all of her books from the floor, but alas, her homework for her first class was missing.

"Looking for something?"Jamie's voice taunted as he held the paper above her head, and out of her reach. God how she hated being so short. It was like a curse. What bothered her though, was that she didn't even seem to see either of them bend down to remove it from her book.

"Give it back, Jamie."Her tone was laced with impatience, her innocence gone. She was angry. If she didn't have that paper, her perfect grades were going to go right down the tubes, and she'd lose everything she worked so hard for. After all, it was hard work to get into an Ivy League college on a full scholarship.

"You heard the girl, give it back."Serah was caught off guard by the new voice that had presented itself into the conversation. Her eyes turned up, to find the source of it, and she was shocked. The guy didn't even look like he should be in high school. He was tall. So much taller than her. She felt like a dwarf in his presence. For a moment, her attention was gone from the assignment that Jamie had been dangling above her head – a dangerous thing really- as she allowed her eyes to trail over the mysterious male who had come to her rescue.

He was, as she'd already thought, massive in both height and muscle mass. And to her, she could only find the perfect way to describe him as the type of boy Lightning would murder if she ever brought him home. He was clad in dark jeans and a tank-top in a dingy grey color. But what stood out more importantly above the rest, was the white leather trench coat the color of freshly fallen snow that was as long as he was tall. Blonde hair framed his features, and he offered her a lazy smile before it faded as he turned his attention back to the bullies.

"I thought I told you to give it back." His tone was darker, and some how more dangerous, and she felt a tinge of fear bubble up inside of her. She made a mental note to avoid him like the plague. God only knew what kind of trouble he'd present if she kept him around.

Needless to say his tactic was effective. The paper, while not handed back to her directly, floated to the floor as both Jamie and Bianca walked off, to do whatever those two did, when they didn't make it their life's mission to make her miserable. She turned her attention back to her rescuer, who bent down to pick up the paper, and hand it back to her.

She took it, an almost dumbstruck look on her face.

"My knight in shining leather."She let out an almost anxious laugh, and then realized what she said, "I'm sorry, that was not an extremely pathetic attempt at flirting. I- I um- Thanks. I'm Serah."

She felt so damn awkward. It was odd. The clunky way the words fell from her lips in a series of rambles and awkward pauses with a mess of non-words. Way to make a good first impression. Not that it mattered. She'd already made her intentions to avoid him pretty clear to herself. Not that it'd really do her much good to try. Fate had a funny way of making certain things happen. Not that she knew that herself.

Though she was a strong believer in fate. In fact, it was her belief in fate that had gotten her through the deaths of her parents when she was younger. She had firmly convinced herself that them dying had to be fate, and nothing else. Probably because she couldn't bring herself to place blame on the animals that had caused the crash that killed them.

"No worries, Serah. The names Snow."

She fought the urge to laugh. What kind of boy's name was Snow? It left her a bit confused as well, though she supposed it could work. And from the looks of it, he liked to play into the name. What with the trench coat and all.

"Well thank you, for rescuing my homework for me, Snow. But I think I should be heading to class now. Maybe I'll see you around."

She hoped not.

He intimidated the hell of out her, not to mention he seemed to be a loose canon, she didn't want to be around when he finally exploded. Serah finished gathering her books, and shoved the few she didn't need in her locker before plucking her notebooks and a few pencils free, and letting the blue door slam with a sound that resounded down the hall.

She walked off, none the wiser to the fact that Snow was watching her go.

-/-

Snow Villiers was for lack of a better word, a hero. He enjoyed protecting those who couldn't protect themselves, and often found himself in endless bouts of trouble with his foster family for the fights he'd get in with the schools variety of bullies. And while his reputation often proceeded him, he wasn't a terrible student. Nor was he really all that bad of a guy. At least that's what he thought.

In reality, Snow was actually quite the fun loving dork, when he wasn't masquerading as a full time hero. Those who were actually close enough to him to know that side of him were few and far between though. His sister, Frost, was one of them. Along side his best friends, Hope and Noel.

Though to be fair, him and Noel didn't actually start as friends, in fact, Noel hated him in the beginning. Apparently he wasn't a big fan of the hero types. Snow had just laughed it off and offered up friendship and boom, magic happened. Wasn't it just great how the world worked in such mysterious ways?

The blonde male allowed himself to walk towards the general direction of his classroom in a slow mosey, hands in the pockets of his jeans as he moved like a lion. His motions were long and lithe, despite their obvious slowness, Snow wasn't exactly worried about being late, despite the fact that the warning bell had already rang, and the final bell was well on it's way.

He didn't have to be on time to have good grades.

At the forefront of his mind for the time being wasn't the lesson on the board that the teacher seemed to drone about, no, it was a girl with pink hair and the most beautiful pair of blue eyes he'd ever seen in his life.

It was funny how it seemed to play out, Snow Villiers who'd never so much as had a girlfriend, laid eyes on Serah and something in him just clicked. Like a peace of him knew that there was meant to be something between them.

He just didn't know how true that nagging suspicion was.

As class droned on, he caught whispers of a prank. Pranks were things that happened often at their school, normally it was the seniors doing their Senior Pranks. He'd been saving his for something big. Something really big. His friends had even volunteered to help out. It was gonna be pretty great.

O f course hearing about the prank didn't pique his curiousity, it wasn't really anything to worry about. All in good fun, he let out a deep chuckle to himself. Kicking back and allowing the morning to continue to play out before him, completely carefree.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Fudging the Landing

Serah had settled into all of her classes with ease, but that didn't stop her mind from wandering to things that were of more interest than a the subjects a hand. An issue in itself, considering she'd never really considered anything more interesting than her classes. School was practically her life after all. And yet, for once, she couldn't wait for lunch. For the chance to go get fresh air, to get out of her thoughts.

And to get her mind off of the tall blonde who'd very much saved her perfect grades. But he was a distraction she couldn't afford, not with the end being so close, and her goal just within reach. She was almost finished with this part of her life. She could move onto ventures hopefully more mature than that of high school.

History. It was usually her favorite subject, but she couldn't stand it today. Probably because of how glued her brain had her on the mysterious savior who obviously had a reputation but she knew absolutely nothing about. Then again, she'd probably know more if she actually had friends. If she actually socialized with people outside of the extra curriculars she took on so that she could build a good college application.

To be honest, she just didn't have time for all of it.

Mr. Heinsburger was one of her favorite teachers. But she was sure even he noticed how bored she looked. How anxious she was to get out of there before she completely lost her mind. But as the lunch bell rang, she nearly flinched when he told her to stay behind.

She turned her attention to the teacher and away from the door, and the older dark haired male gestured her forward. She moved to stand with her books in front of him, ready to bolt when it was time.

"Are you still looking to help out with the Historical Societies Benefit Gala tonight?"

Ah, of course that's what it was about. Not her complete disregard for the lesson. Thank God. She was paranoid as all hell about it, she didn't like the idea of being confronted about the way she'd been so distracted. She'd have to awknowledge that it was because of a guy, a guy she'd just met and had done nothing for her but save her homework.

Which in all logic, she could've done again in a little under 20 minutes.

"Oh, yeah. I'll definitely still be there for that."She gave a nod, and the smile that most people associated with her. It was kind, and gentle. It was a genuinely Serah expression as she'd been told by Lightning on more than one occasion. Only she could look at people with that smile and actually forgive those who bullied her on the spot.

"Alright, be at the Heiscroft Building by 7. Have a good day."

She could tell by the way he spoke that he'd noticed, though she was thankful that he'd elected not to say anything about it. Her feet carried her quickly from the room, and she ghosted through hallways full of students, stopped by her locker to grab her jacket and then on to the cafeteria, slipping into the line with ease.

She silently cursed herself for looking around, and hoping to see Snow. It was absolutely insane. She didn't even know if they shared the same lunch. Let alone that he'd actually want to see her again. She shook her head, as if to clear it.

Methodically she placed a few things onto her tray and moved along, picking up a few things from the offered options as she moved through the slow line. She handed her 3.50 in lunch money to the lady working the register and moved on, slipping out onto the pavillion where no one would dare to bother her, for fear of the cold air.

At least not anyone with a brain in their head.

She felt a rush of relief wash over her as she breathed in the air and seemed to exhale all thoughts of blonde haired heroes out of her head, she sat her tray down, slipped onto the bench, and opened her Chemistry book to lose herself in her lunch, and the opportunity to study for the test she had later.

-/-

Snow's morning had been a little more than consumed, normally he'd have at least attempted to pay attention in class. Not that he really needed to, he was pretty good at retaining information, just by hearing it. Though he had absolutely no idea where the hell he'd gotten the skill from. It was an odd skill to be honest, especially for he and his sister.

He was completely screwed. He wanted to know more about the girl who had without a doubt baffled him. The way she looked her bullies in the face and pretty much pretended not to care. It was impressive, and more than that, it was refreshing in a sense. He got the vibe that she could take care of herself. But even then, he had an overwhelming desire to protect her himself.

He'd just met her, and he was already in too deep. Part of him was curious if this was what people spoke about when they mentioned love at first sight. Something he hadn't even really believed in, until the moment he'd laid eyes on the petite rosette haired girl.

He was crushing. And hard. If the boys found out about this, it'd be made into a joke. He could feel it already.

The bell rang, signifying lunch time, and he was up and gathering his books, his sister moving to stand in his line of sight.

"Mom and Dad are pissed at you again."

"What did I do now?"

"I don't know, they mentioned something about another fight, I didn't know you'd been doing that anymore. Ya know, unless there's something you're not telling me."The blond haired girl gazed at him with eyes a brilliant fuchsia color, an eyebrow raised prompting him to tell her what she wanted to know.

"I haven't been in a fight since the last one, Frost."

"That's weird, Mom and Dad aren't the type to get angry over nothing. I don't know, we'll talk about it later. I'm going to class. I unfortunately don't have lunch with you."

He watched her go, a hand going to rub the back of his neck.

It was then that he'd actually elected to notice the funny looks that Hope and Noel were exchanging from across the room, as they gathered their own books and headed in his general direction. When exactly had they started staring at him like that? He inhaled a deep breath.

"What's the look for?"He asked, pulling the collection of textbooks into his arms, as he stood from the table he'd been seated at, because all of the desks were too small. He took a few long steps to close the space between him and his friends and the door.

"You're acting strange." Hope was the one that spoke next, arching a white eyebrow at him and giving him a paritcularly curious look. "What's going on?"

"It's... It's nothing." If he told them about Serah, he wasn't ever going to hear the end of it. Not to mention they'd probably make a point to make him look like an idiot, because what were friends meant for.

But even then, that was only a chance, there was also the off chance that they might not. There was really no need to tell them anything about it right now, after all, he could always tell them later. If anything came of the undying urge to find and speak to Serah again.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say."Noel snorted a laugh at his words, and shook his head, "Come on big guy, I'm starving!"

Snow gave his own shaggy haired head a shake, chuckling at his friend before following the other two. He stopped at his locker to haphazardly shove his books in it, and then he rejoined them as they entered the cafeteria.

When he entered, the first thing that caught his eyes was the rose haired girl he couldn't get off his mind, sitting outside on the pavillion in the winter cold, all alone. He stared, not exactly meaning to, but he was attempting to come up with a way to approach her, without completely seeming like an idiot. But there she was, even more beautiful than she'd been that morning.

His friend's stopped as well, halting on either side of him, and following his gaze.

Noel chuckled once, and Snow was sure he'd realized what was going on. "Oh look, Hope. Snow's got a crush."

"Looks like you got a little drool there, Snow."Hope interjected laughing, and it seemed to snap Snow out of his trance like state, and he turned to face his friend, eyes widening in the typical deer in the the headlights fashion. "Shhhh. No I don't!"

Lies. Of course he did.

"Go talk to her." Hope said, pressing his hands into the other's back and propelling him forward. They weren't just going to let him enjoy his lunch in peace were they? No. Of course not.

He turned his head back to his friends who were both giving him a thumbs up, and he realized there was absolutely no way out of this. Great.

-/-

Serah had lost herself in the textbook, her attention completely consumed by it, and her studying. She had a test in Chemistry right after lunch, and she wanted to make sure that she was completely prepared for it. It was likely the reason why she hadn't noticed the towering male who stood over her.

"Uh- Hey there.. I- I- uh." Her attention turned up to him from the book as she stuck a carrot stick in her mouth and took a bite, taking a moment to chew and swallow before she deigned to speak.

"Having trouble there, hero?"She asked, turning her attention back to the book.

"Wanted to check on you."

She almost started laughing. That was worse than some of the things she'd seen in some of the tv shows she watched in her free time. It was like he was floundering for things to say. And while she had to admit it was adorable. She'd just managed to get him out of her head, and it was like he fell right back into place.

Something she was not okay with.

"And he fudges the landing."She was clearly joking, and she brought herself to look up at him again. To say he wasn't aesthetically pleasing would be a lie, but she'd never let herself say it out loud. God forbid if she actually had the courage to say that to him.

"As you can see, hot shot. I'm fine. Now I'd like to enjoy my lunch in the fridged winter air by myself. Thanks, for the concern though."She picked up another carrot stick and took a bite out of it, before turning her attention back to her textbook. She could've probably quoted the entire chapter back word for word verbatim if asked she'd read it so many times in preparation for the test. But it was better than allowing herself to be distracted by him.

"I—Uh- I'm sorry. God I really suck at this, don't I?"

Yeah. No duh. It was adorable. And she found it really endearing.

"Are you going to go? Or do I have to move."

She felt incredibly rude for saying it like that, and she was going to apologize, but he'd walked off, likely going back to join his friends. Her eyes followed him for a moment, before turning back to her food, which she suddenly had no desire to even contemplate finishing.

-/-

When Snow had gone back to his friends, he was mentally kicking himself for failing so miserably, and he could tell just by the looks on their faces that they were trying so hard not to laugh at him.

Go ahead. Let them laugh. That had probably been the absolute worst attempt to talk to a girl in the history of worst attempts. And the way she'd reacted. God it was terrible, just thinking about it.

"That was painful to watch,"Hope spoke, and Noel nodded in agreement. "You've got absolutely no game, bro."

Oh. Ouch. Another burn to the ego, that surprisingly restored his confidence.

"Just you guys wait, I don't need game to get her to hang out with me."

"Mighty big words for someone who had trouble forcing a sentence out."Hope was already ahead of Snow, walking backwards towards the exit of the cafeteria.

Looks like he wasn't eating lunch today, his appetite was gone.

-/-

Lunch had ended and she'd headed to Chemistry, she studied the paper in front of her, working quickly through the answers. After she'd finished she knew she'd be allowed to go to the library, since the test was literally the only thing that was on the agenda for the day. Soon as this test was over, her day was over.

It was something to look forward to.

Class started and she moved through the test quickly. It was easy, having studied so much she knew pretty much every answer, without having to think on it too much. Even the equations were fairly easy, though they took a few minutes longer to figure out.

She was finished within 20 minutes of the hour long class, her test was turned in, and her books were gathered and she was on her way to the library, she'd been quick to nestle in, her attention falling to the first book that seemed like it would be fun to read, she plucked it from the shelf and nestled into her corner.

She was lost in the pages of the book until the sound of her own voice played over the intercom.

Oh God no.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Cruelty at Best

Snow had been on his way back to class when he'd run into the trio in the hall. One of which was a hyper active girl that he recalled for being notorious for running away from sticky situations. Vanille. She looked up at him and offered a wave in his direction. Wasn't he just popular today?

He let out a chuckle, raising a hand to return the gesture, that's when he'd caught wind of the prank for a third time that day. From one of the girl's friends.

"Yeah turns out it's supposed to big enough for expulsion. I can't believe he's going to risk it. Especially with his football scholarship and prison literally riding on it."That set off about six hundred warning bells in his head simultaneously.

He moved to lean against the lockers behind them. "Do explain, this has my full undivided attention."He looked so relaxed, so calm. Which was odd, considering he was about to completely lose his mind.

"Jamie. Turns out he and Bianca plan on pranking some poor kid today. And it's like mega scale. We're talking, when it goes down, whatever it is. The entire schools going to know."

"Honestly, I feel bad for the poor girl. Whoever she is, I don't think she deserves whatevers going to happen today. It doesn't seem fair, ya know?"Vanille spoke with a shrug. "But I wouldn't want to get on Jamie's bad side. It's not like I could do anything about it. Anyway, Ciao."

Snow watched the strawberry haired girl run off, and he turned on his heels, heading towards where he figured he might find Serah. Better start searching now, before Jamie found her.

He'd been on his way to the biology wing when the sound of a familiar voice came over the loud speakers and filled the school. Of course, it was a more childish version of the familiar voice, but it was almost like his ears would know the sound her voice no matter where or when. Or how old, which was odd.

The adorable rendition of the pop ballad would've been for lack of a better term adorable, if she'd have shared it of her own accord, but something told him that wasn't the case. As he moved through the halls, he noticed that on the large flat screens the school had installed, the video could actually be seen. A woman with pink hair stood beside the smaller version of the girl he'd found himself infatuated with.

From the loud speakers he could hear what the woman spoke, "You should be a superstar, Serah. You'd be so good at it."

"But I know what I wanna be! I'm gonna be a superhero! They're so much cooler. They get to save the world."

"Well, we'll be here to help you every step of the way."

The video cut, and instead he was being shown a live feed.

-/-

Serah was horrorstruck, when the sound of her voice had echoed over the loudspeakers. She remembered that day so well. Even without the reminder of the video. She hadn't even had it out of her keepsake box in years. It hurt to watch it.

The video had been shot the day before her seventh birthday.

The day before her parents died.

It was the last thing she had to remember her parents by. And she never imagined that it was something that would be used to hurt her in such a way. She looked to the ground from her spot in the corner of the library.

She was hoping it was over.

God was she wrong.

"And here we have the woman of the hour herself, Serah, why don't you say hi to all of your viewers."

Jamie.

Of course. Why hadn't she thought he'd retaliate for all of the things that she'd done. All the times she didn't comply and give him her homework like he wanted. It made sense. She supposed, and Snow coming to her rescue, only made her a bigger target.

That had to be it.

Serah remained silent defiantly, not opening her mouth to speak at all. It turned out that was just a big of a mistake as underestimating the male.

Looked like if he was going down. He was going down with a bang, and he intended to take others with him.

A hand reached out and wrapped around her wrist, tugging her upward in a sharp motion. Anger contorted his features at her blatant disrespect, and he pressed her tight against the bookshelves behind them. "I thought I told you to do something, nerd."

What in Gods name had she ever done to him? What had she done to make this the final straw? All she'd ever done was told him that he should've done his own homework. That was no reason for him to throw everything away.

Something about it didn't sit right with her.

The next few seconds blurred, because suddenly Jamie wasn't on her anymore. And the familiar towering blonde had him pressed against the glass windows of the library. Elbow resting pressed into his throat.

She'd never felt more terror.

And at the same time, she'd never felt so protected either.

The feelings conflicted within her. Confusing her, nothing about this situation was safe. From the looks of it, Snow was about to kill this kid for what he'd done.

For picking on her. For tormenting her.

"You like picking on innocent girls, do you?! You're a coward, Jamie. Your fight isn't with her anymore, it's with me! You're going to deal with me now."

She gasped as she watched what transpired next, teachers had rushed to the scene. Students, had gathered, the security guard was trying to ebb his way through the growing crowd. Jamie lifted the camera and brought it down on Snow's head, not that it did much good.

From the looks of it, he had a really thick skull.

And then he was punching the kid. Hard and relentlessly. Fists falling in an endless stream of hits. She had to stop this. Her concept of time was warped, and she was unsure of exactly how long Jamie hadn't been struggling. She had to stop this now.

Nobody else seemed to be able, and she was unsure if she'd be any good herself. But she reached out her hand, bringing it to rest on his wrist as he pulled back to go in for another hit.

"Stop it! I'm okay. I'm fine."It was all she could force out, with completely falling apart. Her eyes rested on him, and she hadn't even realized that she was trembling.

He froze, his grip dropping. The other male fell to the floor and he turned to look at her. First his eyes stopped on her shaking hand. Then they met her own. Blue on blue.

"Thank you. That's twice in one day, hero."

-/-

She was shaking. That was the first thing that had pulled him out of his thoughts. She was scared, and he was positive that it was more than just the boy he'd pummeled that she was scared of. It'd never been his intention to scare her.

But from what he could see, she was strong. She still hadn't cried. He could imagine anyone would cry after what she'd just been through. But no. She stood there, hand resting on his wrist, eyes meeting his, and she smiled.

Her hand broke contact with his flesh and it was funny how it felt like the lack of contact burned worse than the contact itself.

"Mom and Dad are soooo pissed at you."Frost reiterated from behind him as Serah walked away.

Hope and Noel joined the two of them after a moment, and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Way to go big guy, if she didn't like you before, she's sure to love you now."

Of course. He should've known that was coming. His friends never did cease to let him be. Especially not after a fight.

Looked like it was going to be a long rest of the day.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four- Freshly Fallen Snow

The big guy lumbered into the principal's office his sister lingering closely at his side, "Mom and Dad are soooo pissed at you."His sister reiterated something that she'd spoken earlier that morning piquing the blonde's interest. He looked at her confused.

"Yeah? You said that earlier."He shrugged, and Frost gave him a soft punch to the arm.

"No. I mean, I think this is why they're mad. I know it sounds crazy, but you saw mom and dad this morning, they didn't seem mad. And yet, I distinctively remember seeing them practically enraged with you."The smaller blonde girl whispered as she took a seat to wait for the principal to call them in. From the looks of it, at the moment Serah was in there, talking to Mr. McCalky at the moment.

Just looking at her, Snow could tell that Frost was really worried about whatever she thought she saw, so he turned his attention from the top of the rosette haired girl's head and back to his sister.

"So, what, you have visions?" He was joking. That much was obvious, he was trying to play it off to ease her mind. He wasn't going to think any less of her if she was a psychic, sometimes odd things happened to average people. It was a fact of life.

"I think so? I don't know. I feel like a freak."

"Hey now, don't talk about yourself like that. We'll keep this between us for now, until you're ready to talk to somebody about it, okay?"It wasn't like he could see any immediate danger from him not telling someone, and until he did, it'd be their secret. His sister's wellbeing always came first. No matter what. "And besides, look at it this way, you can do something awesome that no one else can do."

He was flashing a goofy grin now, lopsided and too familiar to his muscles. It was easy to hold the expression, until the door of the small office opened and out stepped the tiny rose haired girl that had been the sole reason he'd given up his clean streak. As she was walking out. His foster parents were walking in.

Wonderful.

Just what he needed right now.

The four of them all made their way into the Mr. McCalky's office, and Snow found himself leaning against a wall leaving the seats for the adults and his sister. There was a slight air of frustration hovering around him, though not quite tangible if anyone focused hard enough they'd notice. Though he doubted in a few moments that anyone would be interested in anything but the endless parade of lecturing words that'd be falling from the lips of his foster mother at any moment.

Just as he'd called it, it was a matter of seconds, and his foster mother was lecturing him about fighting and apologizing to the middle aged male behind the desk. He gave a silent roll of his eyes, the motion subtle and made in an attempt to go unnoticed. For the most part it had, aside from Frost who had angled herself in the chair to look at him.

His foster mother prattled on, dyed black hair shifting with every motion she made, which made it shift every few seconds as she frantically gestured with her hands. He watched as the pale aged hand of his foster father moved to take one of hers into it. And he heaved a sigh. Finally coming back into the conversation.

"You could've put that boy in a coma!"

To be completely honest, when he'd started that was what he was aiming for. What he'd done to Serah was uncalled for and extremely cruel, on a level entirely different from anything he'd seen.

"Could've. But I didn't. I may have a temper but I'm not that cruel."No. He only had a temper when it came to those he was close to, and the innocent.

His attention turned back to the aged male, who was pulling out his checkbook. The other thing those two were best at, buying their way out of trouble. Especially trouble of this caliber. Or as he was sure to hear when they returned back to the Manor house, his trouble, because from the way they spoke of him, he was the cause of all of their problems. The bane of their very existence.

He was okay with that.

He could live with that.

In fact, he'd begun to embrace it. He wasn't going to change himself for the sake of their family name. If they were so worried about it, they'd likely just get rid of him anyway, then he and Frost would be off to find a new foster home, hopefully it'd be one that didn't really care what they did. That'd be pretty great.

Then again, there was always the option of emancipation. After all, he did have a job, that paid pretty decent, and a car that he'd saved up to buy. It wasn't like he couldn't do it on his own, he just wasn't entirely sure that he could support himself and Frost.

He looked down to check his watch and then his attention turned back up to his parents, who were rising from their chairs. His father looked up at him, and spoke the first two words he'd spoken since they'd arrived, wasn't he a man of many words. "Straight home."

He was probably referring to the fact that Snow would definitely be taking his bike, and his sister home, and of course they'd want him to go straight home so that he could never hear the end of it once he got there.

Whatever it's not like it mattered.

They'd talk. He'd listen. Then the next time someone was in trouble it'd be like it went through one ear and out the other. That was just how things worked.

"See you at home."

Not that he really wanted to. As you could probably tell, Snow wasn't all that great with authority. In fact, he could hardly tolerate his teachers. There was something about people cramming law and order down his throat that drove him up a wall. And yet still, he tried to remain as polite as possible, because it was who he was. How he worked. He was hardly ever rude, even when people deserved it. Even when people treated him like crap. Funny how it worked wasn't it. It took a whole lot to make him angry. Unless you were hurting someone innocent and undeserving of being hurt, then he'd get furious quicker than you could snap your fingers.

He straightened up and walked from the room, down the hallway that was slowly filling up with students, as he moved towards his locker to gather his things and grab the keys to his bike and his helmet. If anything he was efficient when it came to safety.

Frost caught up to him a few moments after he'd arrived at his locker, her helmet in hand, and her backpack secured over her shoulders, likely carrying all of her of homework. She accepted the few books that he'd offered her from his own locker, removing the back to place them inside it, then he jingled his keys, snagged his helmet and they headed towards the door.

-/-

It didn't take long for him to get the bike started and get on the road, and much to his utter disappointment, it'd taken even less time for him and Frost to arrive at the manor house that they called home. When they entered the front door, he headed straight towards his room, and much to his shock, there was nothing. No response to the fight, nothing. There was hushed conversation from the kitchen that he'd heard but couldn't make out when he'd walked in. But other than that, it seemed that he was free and clear, which was amazingly shocking.

He allowed himself to lay out across his bed, which had been tailor made just to fit his massive form, and he attempted to relax, though the idea was easier said than done. They'd called Frost down for dinner, obviously they were mad considering he didn't get called, and he didn't really mind, he wasn't really all that hungry anyway.

It was hard to have an appetite when the only thing that had been running through his mind since he'd fallen into bed was the look on Serah's face when he'd saw her last, he could see fear, sadness, and something else on her face as she'd been walking out of the office. In passing he'd remembered the way her hands clenched at the fabric of the skirt she was wearing.

He didn't even want to think about the way she looked so tense when she'd walked past him. He'd really done a number on her hadn't he.

There was a knock on his bedroom door, familiar, and coded in a rhythm that only Frost used. "Yeah?"He called towards the door, awaiting an answer as he pushed himself up right.

"You need to get ready for the Historical Society Gala. Mom and Dad are going to be even madder if you don't."

No way he was putting on that stuffy suit they'd bought for this thing. He never wore it any other time, what made this time different. He shook his head, they wanted him dressed up he'd wear his own clothes, at least they were comfortable. He pulled a few articles of clothing free from his closet on a whim, just picking whatever and tossing it onto the bed. The black ensemble had to be the nicest thing he owned.

They were lucky they were getting that much out of him after the day he'd had.

Oh well.

He was sure that Serah was worth all the trouble.

Of that much, he was positive.


End file.
